Arrangement for casting small steel ingots.



PATENTED DEC. 15, 1903.

A. B. GHANTRAINE. v ARRANGEMENT FOR CASTING SMALL STEEL INGOTS.

APPLICATION I'ILED NOV. 22. 1902.

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ARRANGEMENT FOR CASTlMG SMALL STEEL lNGOTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,137, dated December 15, 1903. Application filed November 22, 1902. Serial No, 132,422. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern..-

Be it known that I, ALPHONSE BAUDOUIN CHANTRAINE, a subject of the King of Belgium, residing at Maubeuge, department of Nord, in the Republic of France, have invented an Improved Arrangement for Casting Small Steel Ingots, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that process of manufacture of small steelingots according to which the steel fed from a central sprue rises in an upward direction into the ingot-molds.

Casting ingots from below is a somewhat costly operation, for it involves the use of special refractory materials consisting generally of bricks laid in channels provided in a cast-iron base-plate and also the cost of remelting the metal or runners left in the channels of refractory material after the casting operation is over. It is therefore necessary to suppress as much as possible or at least to reduce the cost of refractory materials, which often consist of special hollow bricks, the length of the runners and the labor depending upon these elements.

The characteristic feature of myinvention consists in more fully utilizing the space which surrounds the feeder into which the liquid steel is poured. To this effect the outer surfaces of the square or rectangular ingot-molds leave between them no free space, however small it may be. This arrangement permits to reduce to a minimum the cost of refractory materials in the channels, the length of the runners, and the labor.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I will now proceed to describe it fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a plan, and Fig. 2 a crosssection through line M N of Fig. 1, of an ingot-mold arrangement for casting ingots of square cross-section.

The base a is cast with channels I) for the reception of hollow bricks 01. The holes in these bricks communicate with the bases of the ingot-molds. The arrangement of the channels and ingot-molds is perfectly symmetrical with reference to the central portion of the base, which central portion constitutes the main feeding gate or sprue. The arrangement shown in the drawings consists of four symmetrical compartments. In one of the compartments I have shown ingot-molds c in horizontal cross-section, this cross-section being taken a little above the base of the mold. In another compartment I have shown bricks d, filling the channels in the base-plate and establishing a communication between the ingot molds and the central sprue. The other compartments show only the channels I), provided in the base-plate a. As shown in the drawings, the ingot-molds may be arranged in a large number of groups which exceeds considerably that obtained with the arrangements hitherto known without increasing the length of the channels in an undue manner. By this arrangement the outer ingot-molds may be farther away from the central sprue. The mass of the baseplate and bricks storing more heat permit the steel in the channels to remain fluid a longer time. It is, moreover, possible to arrange around a feeding sprue or gate a much larger number of ingot-moldsthat is to say, besides the better utilization of the base-plate surface it will be possible to extend this baseplate so as to arrange thereon further ingotmolds, the feeding of which by wider grooves is rendered possible by my improved arrangement.

The advantages accruing from the arrangement of square ingot-molds remain the same whether their cross-section is rectangular, hexagonal, or of any other shape.

.The disposition of the ingot-molds may be modifiedthat is to say, the grouping of ingot-molds connected by channels at right angles to each other may be modified, the connecting channels running obliquely in straight or in crooked lines. All these arrangements have the property of securing the shortest length of feeding-channel per ingot and for any number of ingots of the same pattern.

These means for fully and more perfectly utilizing the surface for the castingof steel ingots effect thus a great saving of material and labor, while at the same time the casting operation from a central gate is more easy, more rapid, and safer for the following reasons:

First. There is a great reduction in the consumption of refractory material forming the feeding-channels,for the length of these channels is reduced to a minimum.

Second. There is a perceptible reduction in the quantity of steel required to cast a given weight of ingots, for there will be a lesser quantity of steel in the feeding-channels.

Third. The influence of an excess of metal in the central feeder will be less, since the metal is distributed among a number of ingots that is doubleor treble that usually cast by the ordinary arrangements.

Fourth. The saving in labor results from the lesser number of runners to be broken and removed and from the shorter time required to empty the ladle, which at the same time has not to be moved about so much to cast the same number of ingots.

Fifth. Since the ladle is more rapidly emptied, its lining does not remain long in contact with the steel and slag, so that this lining will not require to be repaired or renewed so often and will stand a larger number of casting operations.

Sixth. The greater number of ingot-molds grouped around a central feeder is favorable to the manufacture of small ingots, which sell at a good price. Moreover, the cold ingots are more correct as regards dimensions, for a small excess of the metal into the central part is distributed among a larger number of ingots.

Seventh. Since the surface of the base on which the ingot-molds are placed is better utilized, the arrangement will only occupy a minimum space in the casting-shed, the area of which may be considerably reduced if the plant requires it.

I claim as my invention- 1. An improved base for ingot casting molds, com prising a central sprue, four main channels symmetrically arranged around said sprue and secondary channels from each main channel, each secondary channel being substantially at right angles to its main channel and substantially parallel with the adjacent main channel.

2. An improved base for ingot casting molds, comprising a central sprue, four main channels arranged symmetrically across the base, and secondary channels projecting from said channels and so arranged that the distance from the central sprue to the extremities of the several secondary channels will be the same.

3. An improved rectangular base for ingotcasting molds, comprising a central sprue, four main channels arranged symmetrically and diagonally therefrom, secondary channels projecting from said main channels substantially at right angles to the channel with which it connects, each secondary channel terminating near the side of said rectangular base, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALPllONSE BAUDOUIN CHANTRAINE.

Witnesses:

GUST. PIERREN, E1). PUGH. 

